In regards to the Huntsclan, Alarose, that would be an interesting twist but I'm working with the story being canon through both seasons of AD:JL, meaning the Aztec Skulls were successfully used to wipe them out (insert skull and crossbones emoji).
And so much love for Fred, I feel like the way the plot is going so far will leave some disappointment for the Nerk enthusiasts (I'm so sorry).
Also, I had one major edit for the previous chapter about a day or two after publishing, so check that if you missed out! Dialogue is hard...
Now for Chapter 18! As usual, PLEASE read, review, and follow for future chapters!
As was becoming more frequent with the shorter days and colder weather of fall, the sky was once again a tumbling sea of thick, grey clouds. Rain droplets slapped against the glass windows with the gentle downpour outside and Jake watched with unfocused curiosity as they slid down the panes, occasionally joining together into larger bodies and racing one another to crash into the sill below. The trails and patterns were at least some distraction, and he wondered idly as he watched the clouds whether flying through the vapors and drenching himself in their chilling waters would help at all to soothe his thoughts.
She already said she was sorry. Yeah, cuz that fixes everything. It should, they're the closest human friends you have here. And since when do friends go behind your back like that? Because she was thinking of you! Sure she was, why would I have cared if Ron and Harry were there too? She could have told me, no problem, but she lied. You know you can't cut them off just like that, especially Hermione. Oh yeah? Just watch me…
"How go your observations, young dragon?"
Jake dreamily turned away from the window, fluttering his eyes and trying to refocus. Lao Shi was watching him expectantly as they sat in the back of the classroom for Charms, students in the rows below them of the amphitheater shaped room practicing spells on various animals. Professor Flitwick had just set them all to try and successfully silence the noisy creatures when Jake had begun to drift off into his own morose world.
The short professor that had first greeted them at the gates to the castle what felt like ages ago was passing through the row just in front of them when Lao Shi had tried to get Jake's attention. Annoyed by his student's lack of interest, the aged blue dragon hailed the professor, his clawed arm lifted out of his cloak and into the air.
"Pardon me, Professor Flitwick…" Lao Shi called, the short man quickly running up the stairs to answer his summons, which were in and of themselves a rare treat.
"Yes! Yes, what can I do for you?" he chirped.
"Would you be willing to spare one of your creatures for my student to practice with?"
He grinned so spectacularly that Jake was surprised there was any room left on his face for his bushy mustache to find purchase. "Absolutely! Terribly foolish of me not to have one already prepared for you!" He flicked his wand over his shoulder to the front of the room, a large toad zooming out of the cage on his desk and coming to rest on the table he'd just conjured in front of the two dragons.
"My thanks!" Lao Shi said loudly over the mad croaking of the frightened toad. The professor nodded and continued to watch the blue dragon passionately, not moving so much as an inch. The irritation from the constant croaking distracted Lao Shi from small man's awkwardness as he turned to instruct Jake.
"As we discussed, Jake, intent and motion!" He promptly focused on the toad and snapped his fingers, the irritating calls ceasing immediately. The creature opened and closed its mouth in vain, producing no sound.
"Oh, splendid! Well done indeed!" Professor Flitwick cheered, clapping his hands.
Remember how depressed you were in this place before they showed up? Lao Shi snapped his fingers again, the toad finding its voice once more and using it to full effect. He gestured for Jake to try, but after the red dragon snapped his fingers the toad's cries persisted, unaltered and painfully loud. Professor Flitwick gave a small disappointed sigh and Jake looked ruefully in his direction. Lao Shi must have noticed as he quickly addressed the Head of Ravenclaw house.
"I believe one of your students near the front requires assistance, professor." He gave a small squeak of surprise at his obliviousness and hurried off back down the stairs, nearly tripping as he went to address the raven up front, whose head was slowly growing to an alarming size. Lao Shi looked back at his pupil carefully. "Your mind is clouded, Jake, what troubles you?"
"Nothing," Jake dismissed automatically. Don't act the fool, you're blaming them for Winky. He glared at the toad, thought about the quiet of his room in the Den and the peace of the downpour outside, and snapped his fingers forcefully. Still, nothing.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. "You are a terrible liar, Jake. Are you still upset about the house-elves, even after our talk?"
Okay, that's just creepy old man.
Lao Shi took his refusing silence for admission as Jake sat snarling at the frog, snapping his fingers in a flurry. "Jake, it is their way of life, what makes them happy. Even if we did force the wizards to free them, it would only…"
"G, please, I really don't want to talk about this right now." The toad was blessedly silent, though it was from exhaustion and not Jake's chapping fingers. Sooner than either of them would have liked, it found renewed energy and continued its serenade. Even imagining a velvet bow and pink outfit for the creature didn't improve Jake's results.
Lao Shi watched him struggle quietly for a while before starting again. "Perhaps it is not the elves that trouble you, then."
Jake's eyes flickered to him for a second.
The brief moment was enough for Lao Shi to see his panic. "You forget that I was young once too, Jake, but you must learn that the crow that plucks the worm leaves the nest unattended."
You're pushing it, G, just shut up. I don't need any of your Chinese bull-…"
"I am also not blind, Jake, and multiple times these past several days have you ignored Ms. Granger's…"
"GRAMPS!"
The roar echoed unnaturally through the room as Jake slammed his hand flat on the table, followed by complete silence. The creatures made no noises, the students gaped unspeaking and dumbfounded, even the pattering of rain on the windows sounded distant. Lao Shi watched him breathe heavily, concerned and uncertain, before clapping his hands together loudly. The cacophony of animal calls resumed and the students continued their practice for the rest of the lesson, yet the dragons continued to sit in icy silence, Lao Shi granting Jake the quiet he desired.
Great, now you blew it with gramps too. It wasn't until the two entered the Great Hall for lunch that Jake was dragged back out of his thoughts by someone calling his name. He looked up habitually towards the Gryffindor table only to find the trio absent from their usual places.
"Over here, Jakeroo!" He followed the giggling voice to the opposite end of the table below the red banners where Fred was grinning broadly and beckoning him over. Curiosity trumping his discouragement, he wandered over and sat across from him to find the Weasley twins sitting beside them and leaning in closely.
"You're just in time my friend," George greeted him with a wicked grin, looking up to the head table where Umbridge sat sipping her soup with gentility. The torture of the horrid woman was one of the few things keeping Jake sane, and the memory of Nerk's last prank, which involved a well-timed application of Abominable Instant-Ice Waxing Solution to the Grand Staircase as she left her office for dinner two days ago, somehow managed to make him smile.
"Your yellow friend here let slip that you two were behind the Umbridge gags," Fred commented. Jake glared at Nerk, who simply gave a sheepish, guilty grin. "We were a bit offended that you failed to include us in your schemes..."
"...but then again you probably didn't know about our reputation for these sorts of things," George premised, "otherwise you would have come to us in the first place!"
"Just wait, mate, you're gonna love this," Nerk cackled.
"Don't leave me out of the loop like this, yo," Jake begged them. "Is it the Magic Stink Bombs? Don't tell me you broke out the Invisible Fleas already…" he guessed as Nerk continued to shake his head.
"Invisible Fleas?" both twins asked excitedly.
"Heaps of Magic Sneezing Salts…" Nerk answered with delight, quickly adding at Jake's disappointed look, "…with a bit of a bang."
"Fred here – no, the dragon you twit – showed us what you lot had," George began.
"And suffice it to say that we made a few alterations." Fred added.
"Look, look, here we go!" Nerk quieted them, watching gleefully as Professor Grubbly-Plank slipped past Umbridge's place, the latter wrinkling her nose in distaste and hastily spraying her tiny vial of perfume in the vicinity. Satisfied, she moved to grab her spoon but halted in the motion, inhaling sharply before giving a tremendous sneeze.
"Oh my, I…" she muttered, reaching for her handkerchief, before another bellowing sneeze shook her. This time, however, a stream of snot flew from her tiny nose. She gaped at it in horror until more sneezes exploded from her uncontrollably, the stream of boogers developing steadily into a river that flowed down her front as she fled from the hall to the amusement (and disgust) of watching students.
Jake was beside himself, along with his three accomplices, congratulating them, "Dawgs, that was off the heezy!"
"Er…we'll take that as a compliment," George answered bewildered.
"Oozing Odor is bound to be a hit, or Eau de Elephant, haven't quite got the marketing figured out yet," Fred flaunted.
Nerk wiped a tear from his eye, still heaving with laughter. "You've got to tell me how you pulled off switching out her perfume bottles."
Fred wagged a dismissive finger at him, sipping a goblet of juice. "Ah ah ah, you 'ought to know better than ask for trade secrets." Nerk shrunk sadly and tore at a nearby leg of meat. George took the opportunity to nudge Jake in the shoulder and drop something small into his hand. The dragon looked down to find a golden coin that the wizards used for currency and was momentarily confused what exactly he was being paid for.
"To help you know when the you-know-what's are," Weasley told him quietly with a wink. "Hermione thought you should have one, but since you've been avoiding her like the plague…" he stopped as Jake abruptly turned away and stubbornly slammed the coin on the table.
"What's got your jocks in twist?" Nerk asked jokingly.
The twins responded before Jake could deflect the question. "Apparently our good-for-nothing younger brother and his friends had a row with Jake, here," Fred supplied.
"But you know what they say about gossip, gentlemen, it's one-third right and two-thirds wrong," George waved as they stood and left the hall with several students.
"Or was it the other way around?" Fred teased in the distance.
Jake watched them leave, biting back his irritation, while Nerk sat thoroughly confused. He was about to prompt Jake when the red dragon headed him off. "Down for more sparring tonight, Nerk?"
"Not again, mate," Nerk said exasperated. He rolled his eyes at Jake's expectant stare. "You've gotta be…fine, but only because it's too much fun to pummel you senseless," he argued. They stood to leave, but Jake hesitated and stared down at the small yellow coin still resting on the table. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he noticed for the first time the dragon embossed on the face-up side of the wizard Galleons. Against his spiteful pride, he snatched up the metal piece and slipped it into a pocket in his cloak.
"Thanks, Nerk," he said sincerely as they left the hall. Practice fighting helped distract him, but it was the fact that he'd agreed to humor him when they both knew very well how small Nerk's chances of winning in hand-to-hand combat were that made Jake appreciative. Even after his new friends had turned against him, Nerk was still there.
Maybe I'll let him win…just one time…
Feathers covered the torn cushions, books lay scattered, and scorch marks pocked the walls in every direction.
It was one of the most wonderful things Harry had ever seen.
Another successful D.A. meeting was coming to an end while the students meandered throughout the room, cleaning themselves off and collecting their things as they prepared to sneak away back to their dormitories. Ron was busy talking with Dean and Neville while Hermione sat solemnly in a corner with a book in her lap, rolling a crumpled bit of paper in her fingers. Harry had a fair idea what was on her mind as he walked towards her, surprised when Hermione spoke first as he sat beside her.
"Maybe he doesn't know how to use the Galleon," she thought aloud.
"Maybe," he answered half-heartedly, pulling out the Marauder's Map to scout for any witnesses in the halls. The first he found was Umbridge, sitting at her desk in her office. "He might be busy, too."
"Right…dragon stuff," she laughed nervously. Harry's eyes scanned the folds and creases of the aged parchment until he found Filch, hobbling down a corridor on the second floor. "Who am I kidding, he can't stand to be anywhere near us..."
"Well, what'd you expect after what happened? He'd be all chummy with us like before?" Ron asked sarcastically as he joined them and offered a hand to help Hermione up. She instead stood on her own and gave him a filthy glare. The black marks swept along the map as Harry found another worrisome target, Mrs. Norris, wandering in the dungeons below the castle. "What, I'm just saying maybe we should've…"
"Are you ready, Harry?" Hermione asked shortly, turning her back on Ron and waiting for Harry to stand.
"Yeah. Filch, Umbridge, and Norris are all off," he said as he got to his feet. "We should be fine if everyone…what?" A black dot had appeared at the end of the hall just outside their room, but it appeared faded, as though made of aged ink. Stranger still, where there should have been a name above the dot sat an unintelligible scribble.
"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked, her curiosity burning.
"What do you suppose this is?" he said, showing her and Ron the strange new dot as it edged a little farther into the corridor. As they watched, the dot grew slightly more solid and the scribble rearranged into fuzzy letters that spelled The Dragon.
"Woah, let me see," Ron demanded as he grabbed the parchment. The name morphed and changed, now reading Red. Understanding slowly illuminated his face. "You don't think…"
"Give it here." Hermione roughly grabbed it now and watched as the lettering scattered and condensed once more. "Norbert Jr." she whispered. The dot encroached further still into the hallway, the owner apparently uncertain of their destination. She shoved the map back into Harry's hands and hurried towards the door to the room, but other students had already begun to leave. Harry looked down at the map and watched the first dots appear in the hallway where the entrance to their room should be, the faded dot at the end of the corridor immediately racing away and escaping down a couple of floors before disappearing entirely from the map.
"That had to be Jake," Ron offered, Harry responding with a nod. He watched the map as the students returned to their dormitories, flocking past Hermione's mark as it stood by the Grand Staircase for a while before finally moving back towards the Room of Requirement. When she stepped beyond the threshold of the entrance, Harry could see the flustered disappointment painted across her face.
"Where did he go?" she asked fruitlessly.
"No idea," Harry admitted. Hermione rolled her head back in frustration, but Harry had other preoccupations on his mind. "We never did use the Marauder's Map to see the dragons before. Remus told me that it's never wrong, so why did Jake not show up like everyone else?"
"Nothing's perfect, Harry," she said in her lecturing voice, which to Harry's pleasure helped ease her nerves somewhat. "It wasn't necessarily wrong, either, it just wasn't entirely right." She grabbed her bag up from where she'd abandoned it on the floor during her chase and slung it over her shoulder, the two boys following as she left the trashed room, the crumpled paper returned to her fiddling fingers. They stepped out into the hallway and headed for Gryffindor Tower, the door to the Room of Requirement melting back into a flat stone wall behind them.
"And if I had to guess, I'd say the map was confounded. Not by an actual Confundus charm, mind you, but probably something similar given that the dragons are naturally resistant to magic." She laughed dryly before huffing, "They really are brilliant at hiding from us…" Harry and Ron simply listened and nodded along in turn, having no arguments to her theories. By the time they reclaimed their seats in front of the fire in their common room, Hermione had regained some of her composure and returned to her standard levels of worry-filled anxiety, enchanting her needles to knit more clothing while the boys poured over their homework.
Despite the turmoil brought by the sudden upheaval of their friendship with Jake, leading the D.A. meetings and watching as his friends slowly became more and more adept at defensive magic filled Harry with satisfaction and triumphant valor. He felt impervious to anything that the school could throw at him, even Umbridge's foul behavior (which only seemed to escalate as the various antics against her grew more involved and complex).
The limits of his optimism were tested, however, as their first Quidditch match of the season against Slytherin drew ever closer. Even Harry's stoicism was beginning to falter between Ron's frequent panic attacks, the terrible weather conditions during practices, and students from the two houses openly jinxing each other in passing between classes.
"I'll just tell Johnson that I'm quitting before tomorrow, that's plenty of time to find someone else better at Keeping," Ron squealed as they passed a group of heckling Slytherins. "Not that it'd be hard, any Frankie First Year could probably…"
Harry halted sternly and pivoted to confront him. "Ron, you aren't quitting. You're a great Keeper and you'll do fine tomorrow if you can just get a grip." His tall friend's continued sullen attitude only served to infuriate him. "You're being thick. You've been doing fine at practices, and this isn't your first game either. You were great when we played the dragons!" His arguments fell on deaf ears and Harry was on the verge of thumping him when a towering red dragon walked past the intersection at the far end of the corridor over Ron's shoulder. Harry stalled, inspiration striking him like lighting.
"Go meet up with Hermione, I forgot something in Charms," he lied, brushing by Ron as he hurried to catch up with Jake. Given his size, the dragon was surprisingly hard to find amidst the crowd of students and Harry was barely in arm's reach as Jake paused to undo his cloak and prepare for flight just outside the doorway of the castle. Harry accidentally stepped on Jake's tail in his rush as it unexpectedly uncurled from beneath his cloak, recoiling as the dragon reared in pain. Jake rounded on him as he was thrown off balance and sent crashing to the ground.
"Step off, yo! What's the big…oh." Jake paused, watching Harry struggle to his feet, rubbing the spot where his head hit the floor and moaning in pain.
"Ouch…Jake, it's me, Harry…"
"You don't say."
"Right…" The two stood there uncomfortably, Harry focusing on his new contusion and forgetting his purpose until Jake moved to take flight once more. "Wait, Jake!"
The dragon lowered his wings and groaned impatiently, "What? I've got places to be, dawg, so if we can take a rain check…"
"Are you going to the Quidditch match tomorrow?"
That got his attention. Jake turned fully back to Harry, genuinely confused. "Say what now?"
"It's the first Quidditch match of the season, between Gryffindor and Slytherin," he explained in an uncertain babble. "I was just…er…wondering if you were coming?"
Jake looked incredulous. "Considering the last time we were down at the pitch Fred ended up a smear on the grass, I hadn't really planned on it, no."
Damn, I forgot about that. "But you won't be playing! Just having you there to support us would do loads to…"
"Yo, Harry, y'all don't need help from dragons to win a sports game. I'm sure you'll be fine." Jake took a step backward and looked at him sadly before starting to turn away once again.
"I'm not asking the American Dragon, I'm asking Jake!" Harry called desperately. He watched carefully as Jake stood still, refusing to look back at Harry but also not leaving altogether. Harry took his continued silence as a cue to keep talking. "Ron's a mess. He can hardly stay on his broom, and you can forget about catching a Quaffle. He hasn't been the same without you there to help him."
Jake didn't budge, so Harry plowed on. "And it's not just Quidditch, Jake, Hermione's been miserable for weeks." The very mention of Hermione's name made the dragon twitch, which Harry thought peculiar. Was he that upset with her? "You know her, Jake. Lately she hasn't bothered answering questions, scolding us, or correcting anyone. She even got an A on her last Potions essay. An A…from Hermione."
His head angled closer to him, but Jake still remained planted. Man he's stubborn. "Honestly, Jake, between the two of them I'm going mad, not to mention that you were the only relief I had. I never would have lasted this long around Umbridge without you. You're our best mate, and a good person, and…well…"
They both stood quietly for a moment. "Did you mean that?"
Harry wasn't sure how to answer, feeling a bit embarrassed about the end of his speech. "Er, which part again?"
Jake chuckled and turned to face him fully. "You said I was your guys' 'best mate'. Did you mean that?"
"Course I did," Harry answered, smiling. "Ron wouldn't be wetting himself right now if it weren't true." Jake laughed at that, a contagious sound that Harry couldn't help but share in. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed the dragon himself. It didn't seem reasonable for a friendship of this degree to be fostered in barely two months, but there was no denying that the feeling was mutual as he took in the joy beaming from Jake's own features.
"I'll be there," Jake said. Harry gave him a quizzical look, so he clarified with an eye roll, "For Quidditch, I'll be there tomorrow. No way I'm letting Ron make a fool of himself out there."
"Why wait? We'll see you at dinner tonight, right?"
Jake was back to looking genuinely depressed. "Can't, G's got me running patrols tonight." A thought occurred to him. "How 'bout we meet halfway? Breakfast, tomorrow, deal?"
Harry grinned. "Deal," he promised, the two sealing it with a fist bump. Without another word, Jake leapt into the air and soared off. Harry followed suit with a jog down the hall, setting out to find Ron and Hermione. Deciding to let Jake surprise them, he kept quiet about their deal all through the night and worked with unnatural happiness, much to Ron's chagrin. He lead them down to the Great Hall the following morning, feeling absolutely confident and ready to finally mend the damage done weeks previously by their ill-conceived schemes.
He was met instead with disappointment as neither horn nor tail of any of the dragons was found in the Great Hall, greeted only by a rampant student body and a cloudy sky above them. Ron cringed at the throng of soon-to-be spectators, his face paling and red hair thrown into sharp relief.
"I think I'm gonna be sick…"
"If we could beat them, Jake, they can't be that good. My bet's on Slytherin," Fred called over the rushing wind as they soared over the Forbidden Forest. It was the last stop on their usual morning surveillance, not that they ever actually 'surveyed' anything at this point. The trees were so thick and closely packed that anything below the leaved branches was completely hidden, but the Dragon Masters insisted that they scout it regardless.
"You must have cracked your dome harder than I thought if you think they're gonna lose to those whacked out jerks," Jake yelled back. They cleared the forest at last and glided over the lake, landing softly at the entrance to the Den and walking down the first winding tunnel.
"No need to have a go, mate. If it means you're done being a pruned little killjoy, you go ahead and think whatever you want," Fred teased. They turned the last corner to find the others already gathered around their meeting table, watching them with cold, forlorn stares as they approached.
"Woah, take the party down a notch or y'all are gonna blow the roof off this place," Jake jibed sarcastically. None of them so much as blinked. "Okay, well…it was the same as always, G, nothing fishy going on. Let's go grab some breakfast, The Am-Drag's starving over here."
"Not today, young dragon," Lao Shi responded sadly, holding up an opened letter in his hand for them to see. "We've received orders from the Dragon Council. We are to gather our things and return to the Isle of Draco immediately for debriefing before going back home."
Jake had a gut feeling about what was coming long before Lao Shi said the words, but they still managed to hit him like a brick wall. "But…but Gramps, we…"
"There is no arguing this time, Jake," his grandfather warned him, his voice laden with seriousness. "The Dark Dragon has made several attacks on key cities throughout the world over the past couple of days. Last night he struck Sydney…" Jake spun around to see Fred, who stood in shock with his mouth sagging open. "Fred's replacement, the backup Vietnamese Dragon, was injured in the assault. Fred and Dominic are needed back home, Jake," he said carefully at his student's swelling desperation, "and so are we. The Dragon Council strongly believes that his next target will be New York City."
"But Greggy…" Jake begged.
"…cannot succeed alone," Sun finished gently. "We thought the Dark Dragon would focus on us as long as we stayed here, Jake. We were wrong."
"He's just trying to make us leave by going after our territories!" he argued.
"And it worked, kid," Dominic said. "Plot or no plot, we can't stay. You know that."
He looked to his grandfather meekly. Lao Shi merely shared his remorse and dropped his shoulders with a sigh. "We leave in an hour, Jake." With that, they all stood and left for their rooms, leaving Jake and Fred alone in the chamber. No matter what angle he took or reasoning he thought of, nothing was more important for the American Dragon than guarding his home. They were going to have to leave Hogwarts.
"I'm sorry, Jake," Fred consoled him, his voice shuddering distinctly. "Don't get banged up, mate, it's not over. We'll make him pay." Jake looked to see his friend's eyes overflowing with rage but was too consumed with grief to return the sentiment and settled instead for shuffling off to his own room. Preparing for their travel took little effort with all of his belongings fitting easily into two duffle bags. He slung them over his shoulders and walked back to the central chamber to wait for the others. As he dropped one on the floor, echoes of cheering and applause travelled into the rotunda and reminded him of one crucial detail.
He still had to say goodbye.
Before he knew it he was approaching the pitch, and Jake could see the players darting through the air on their brooms while the voice of the same announcer that had cast their own match boomed out through the air. The stands were filled to bursting and Jake's eyes swept keenly over the ocean of Gryffindor students, but between their sheer numbers and the fact that they refused to sit still made it impossible for him to find Hermione. One person that was very easy to find, however, was Professor Dumbledore, who sat in his usual vibrant violet robes at the top of one of the spectator towers with the other staff members. I wonder if Gramps told him already…
"Professor Dumbledore!" The teachers all looked up, several of them shuffling aside as the red dragon landed roughly amongst the benches and approached the Headmaster.
"Ah, I'm glad to see you could make it for the match before your trip, Jake," the old wizard sullenly greeted the dragon, who seemed rather preoccupied as he scanned the crowded Gryffindors over the railing of the deck.
"So gramps already told you?" he asked, failing to conceal any of his lingering frustration.
Dumbledore looked sincerely regretful as he admitted, "Indeed he has, but know that Hogwarts will miss you all terribly and welcome you with open arms should you ever wish to return." Jake nodded sadly and gave a small sigh in defeat, looking up now despondently at the sky. "You may also want to try looking by Ms. Lovegood. I believe she is in the far seats with the roaring lion hat."
Jake looked back at him just in time to see his twinkling eyes give him a knowing look. Given the growing impatience of the other professors, Jake spared his thanks and took off, quickly finding the silver blonde girl with the terrifying headpiece, and next to her…
Hermione.
Ignoring the singing Slytherins and groaning Gryffindors, Jake landed at the rear of the stands and pushed his way through the crowd to where the two girls stood at the railing, watching the match before them. He slipped his hand out from beneath his cloak and rested it lightly on Hermione's shoulder, reveling in the astonished glee that crossed her face when she turned and found him.
"Hey there."
"Hey yourself," she answered. He had no idea where to start explaining his departure when she burst out with apologies. "I'm so sorry Jake, I lied to you and didn't trust you and…"
"No, Hermione, I'm sorry," he cut her off. "I was trippin' hard with y'all before, and that wasn't fair. You were…you are the best friends a dragon could ask for. Forgive me?"
Without hesitation, she flung her arms around him in a tight hug. The gesture filled him with that familiar, intoxicating warmth. "Well, only because you asked so nicely," she choked. Against his better judgment, Jake embraced her as well and bent his head down to rest his chin over her curled hair.
"You're leaving, aren't you?" she asked in a low voice, looking at the one duffel bag still slung over Jake's shoulder. He'd forgotten the rest of the world for that brief moment, but her question jerked him back into reality, the fresh reminder renewing every ounce of his displeasure.
"The Dark Dragon attacked Australia," he answered quietly. "Fred has to go back…we all have to go back."
Hermione let go, bravely holding on to her shaky smile. "A-alright…" she stammered. "That's perfectly fine! You've taken care of him before; it 'ought to be a breeze this time. And when that's done, you can all come back," she explained as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
The crowd cheered and hollered, but it sounded impossibly far away. Jake tried to say with as much patience and understanding as possible, "Hermione, it's not that easy…"
"Don't…" she stopped him, "…don't give up, Jake. Please…be safe. For us, and for Haley, too." A genuine smile flickered past her lips. "She's far too young to have to be the American Dragon."
Jake barked a laugh and pulled the small Galleon out from a pocket in his cloak, handing it to Hermione. "Only if you promise to watch out for Harry and Ron, they'll run the defense group into the gutter without you."
She shook her head and folded the coin back into his claws. "Keep it. How else will you find us when you come back?" Jake wasn't sure he'd be able to get much else past the thick lump in his throat, but was saved from their last farewells by the sudden uproar of the crowd, loud enough to reach even them and turn their attention back to the pitch.
"AND POTTER'S GOT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!" The Gryffindor spectators were uncontrollable as Harry flaunted the captured Snitch in his grasp. A Bludger from one of the Slytherin Beaters came from behind to slam into his back, throwing him off of his broom to crash on the ground while the audience let out a collective Ooohh. His teammates were quickly helping him to his feet while the Malfoy boy landed nearby and threw bald insults at them out of spite.
Avoiding goodbyes, Jake left Hermione and flew down to the field as the Slytherin boy's taunts grew more aggravated. The referee was far above them in the air, scolding the Beater that had sent the unnecessary Bludger, and was completely oblivious as the twins both struggled to break free of their teammates' restraints. Malfoy was laughing absurdly at the scene, Jake hurrying his pace for fear of what was soon to follow.
Harry hadn't been granting Malfoy enough attention to understand most of his abuse, yet some part must have cared enough to hear him anyway. There was no other reason he'd have released George and joined him in his mad sprint to beat Malfoy to a bloody pulp. They were nearly on him, fists reared back in preparation, when a huge figure slammed into both of them, knocking them to the grass and pressing them forcefully against the dirt.
Malfoy only leered more relentlessly as Harry and George were both lifted into the air, each one locked in place by a thick scaled arm. "And here's your little pet, too! Right on schedule, of course, can't have Potter about without his filthy little half-breed gecko getting in the way…"
"Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much, Mal-freak?" Jake snapped his fingers, intending to silence the boy, and immediately dropped both of his captives to the ground as they all stared at the now nude Draco Malfoy. "Oops," was all he managed before he, Harry, and George all descended into wild laughter, mirrored by the majority of the spectators still present in the stands. Malfoy blushed brilliantly beneath his silver hair as he grabbed his broom for cover, racing to the nearest exit portal with distinctly feminine cries.
"That was fantastic," Fred cackled as the other Gryffindor players joined them, all sporting equally broad smiles.
"I totally didn't mean to do that, but I'm so glad I did," Jake chortled.
Harry brushed the dirt off of his robes while George added, "That slimy little worm had it coming, though, didn't he? If I got my hands on him, I…"
"Incarcerus!" Thick ropes wound around Jake's torso, snaring his arms and wings and tightening around him painfully. Everyone turned in surprise to see Umbridge just yards away, approaching at a brisk pace on her stubby legs with her short wand trained on the dragon. For the first time, Jake actually looked worried by the small woman as she came to a stop in front of him with an expression of ravenous pleasure.
"Yo, Professor Umbridge, at least take me out to dinner first," Jake joked with troubled breaths.
"You think you're funny, do you?" she accused in her girlish voice. "You think I didn't know it was you creatures behind all of those 'mishaps' and 'accidents'? I may not have been able to prove those, but the entire school just watched you viciously attack innocent students. You even had the nerve to use magic on one…"
"Because Malfoy was insulting him! He egged us all on, of course…" Harry defended Jake hotly.
"I hope you've enjoyed your stay at Hogwarts," she spoke over him, "because I can promise you that Cornelius will have you removed posthaste when he hears just how wild and dangerous all of you savage," she stepped closer, "disgusting," another step, "mongrels are!"
Jake stared at her blankly before roaring with laughter, though Harry was far from sharing in the humor. Umbridge's eyes bulged as Jake looked back down at her and growled, "Lady, you should learn how to pick your fights." In one fluid motion, his claws flashed upward and out, leaving the ropes lying limp beside him with neatly sheared ends. He flexed his limbs intimidatingly while Umbridge skittered backward, her wand shaking. Jake took a single, menacing step toward her when a bolt of red energy flew from her wand, striking him squarely in the chest. Umbridge watched in horror as it fizzled against his scales, completely ineffective.
"That almost tickled," he said idly. "You know, where I come from we don't let whackjobs play with guns." He made a flicking motion with two fingers and grinned as the stubby wand flew from her grip. Whether she gaped at him out of fury or terror was anyone's guess. "But you know, I think you're on to something," he breathed while edging in closer, Umbridge leaning away from the smoke leaking from his maw and falling back onto her bottom. "I guess I am pretty wild and dangerous."
"We are running late, Jake!" The sound of Lao Shi's voice followed by the sight of the other dragons all hovering in the air above them was an immense relief for Harry. Jake looked up and groaned in annoyance, clearly not appreciating the interruption.
"Just a couple more minutes, G!" he called back. His Dragon Master crossed his arms with impatience. "Ugh, fine!" Jake abandoned his toy and walked towards the Gryffindor team. He snatched his dropped duffel bag as he went and came to a stop in front of Harry and Ron, as jovial as though it were any ordinary Saturday afternoon.
"It's been real, guys, but we've gotta split, for good this time." He paused for a moment and glanced briefly to the stands where Luna's lion hat continued to roar before continuing, "I'm sorry for what happened in the bathroom...and I'm gonna miss you guys." He raised his clenched fist to them. "Friends for life," he said in a tone of unnerving finality, the two of them returning it uncomprehending.
"Wait, Jake, I don't…" Ron stuttered, but the dragon was already in the air and flying to meet the others. Haley handed him a second duffel bag, which he slung over his other shoulder as they began to soar away.
"Good luck, y'all! Holla!" he shouted back to them, the troupe of dragons flying off into the distance and shrinking into tiny specks before disappearing altogether.
Everyone looked to Harry as though waiting for a translation for what had just happened, but he stood silent, lost for words and beyond perplexed. "What do we do, Harry?" Ron asked him in shock. The seats were emptying, a livid McGonagall was approaching swiftly, and his captured Snitch zoomed around his head in a dizzying blur, but Harry could only gaze unseeing at the horizon, willing the dragons to return, revealing their sudden departure to be an elaborate prank or some drastic misunderstanding.
They did not return, however, and before long even the specks had faded into the cloudy distance. He helplessly turned to Ron in defeat, an overwhelming, sinking sensation drowning his mind as he realized that the Dragons of Draco Isle were gone forever.
"I don't know."
There you have it! Again, this is NOT the end of the story, I'm estimating we're only about half way through. SO, keep an eye out for future chapters and AS ALWAYS if you had any strong opinions or discussion topics on the material, I would LOVE to read them in reviews or PM's!